Developments and trends, 2024

In 2024, the Secretary-General continued to emphasize that the use of chemical weapons anywhere by anyone and under any circumstances is intolerable and that impunity for their use is equally unacceptable. The Secretary-General also continued to urge States to reaffirm their commitment to the Chemical Weapons Convention and called for unity in the Security Council to identify and hold accountable those who have dared to use such weapons. The Office for Disarmament Affairs continued to support the Secretary-General’s good offices in furthering the implementation of Security Council resolution 2118 (2013) on the elimination of the chemical weapons programme in the Syrian Arab Republic. The Office also continued to work with members of the Security Council in their efforts to build unity, restore cooperation and ensure adherence to the global norm against chemical weapons.

The year also witnessed a continued international focus on the security implications of emerging technologies in the biological sphere. In adopting the Pact for the Future in September, Member States emphasized the need to address emerging and evolving biological risks through improved anticipation, prevention, coordination and preparedness processes. Furthermore, they committed to identify, examine and develop effective measures, including possible legally binding measures, to strengthen and institutionalize international norms and instruments against the development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpiling, retention and use of biological agents and toxins as weapons.

It was in this context that the international community pushed ahead with various initiatives aimed at bolstering the Biological Weapons Convention, including through the dedicated Working Group on the strengthening of the Convention. During the fourth and fifth sessions of the Working Group in Geneva, States parties discussed ways to identify, examine and develop specific and effective measures, including possible legally binding measures, and to make recommendations to strengthen and institutionalize the Convention. In line with the Group’s mandate from the ninth Review Conference in 2022, its deliberations addressed the following: (a) international cooperation and assistance under article X; (b) scientific and technological developments relevant to the Convention; (c) confidence- building and transparency; (d) compliance and verification; (e) national implementation of the Convention; (f) assistance, response and preparedness under article VII; and (g) organizational, institutional and financial arrangements.

Despite intensive negotiations before and during the Group’s fifth session in December, however, consensus eluded States parties on a recommendation for establishing two new mechanisms within the Convention’s framework, focused respectively on scientific and technological review and on facilitating international cooperation and assistance under article X. One State party objected to a proposal by the Chair to recommend that States parties convene a special conference specifically tasked with formally establishing the mechanisms.

From March to August, the Youth for Biosecurity Fellowship programme hosted its second cohort, comprising 20 young leaders in the biological sciences from 17 States in the global South. The participants took part in a series of tailored, expert-led online learning sessions and collaborative research that culminated in a 10-day study visit to Geneva to observe the fourth session of the Working Group. Building on the momentum of the first edition, the Fellowship received a significant increase in applications, with more than 2,400 applicants from over 100 countries — a rise of more than 200 per cent compared with the previous year.